Author: MercurialLily
Fandom: Hetalia
Title: Iris
Rating: T
Pairing: None

Slight mention of suicide in this chapter.

October 7, 1993, Warsaw

"...Natalya! Hey, wake up. Natalya!"

Natalya opened her eyes. She was unable to restrain a cry of surprise when she saw Elizabeta standing over her. Running a hand through her hair, she mumbled, "What time is it?"

"Quarter to eight. You just missed breakfast," Elizabeta replied. "I'm technically not supposed to do this, but I brought you some food." She held out a bread roll.

"Oh. Thanks." Natalya took the bread roll. It was soft.

"We have to go down to the conference room soon," Elizabeta said as she went over to the chest of drawers. She pulled out a blouse and skirt, both of which were black, and brought them over to Natalya. "These might be a bit big on you, but try them on."

Natalya took the clothes and stood up. She turned so that her back was facing Elizabeta and quickly changed. The clothes hung slightly off her thin frame, but she didn't mind too much. Even though they weren't new, they were new to her. It was nice having pretty clothes.

"You can try some of my shoes, too," Elizabeta said. Natalya looked over her shoulder. Elizabeta had put her hair up in a bun and was attaching her pistol holster to the waistband of her skirt.

"Do you always wear that?" Natalya asked.

"My gun? Yeah, most of the time." Elizabeta put her gun into the holster and clipped the holster shut. "I'm not required to, but you never know when something might happen. Are you ready to go?"

Natalya nodded slowly. She waited for Elizabeta to move toward the door, then she followed her.

The halls were quiet and empty. Natalya felt a slight surge of anxiety run through her body. She was used to busy streets and hoards of people. Something like this was oddly frightening for her. At any moment, it felt like something could leap out at her.

When they reached the conference room, everyone else was already there. Katya was the first to speak. "You two are late."

"Sorry about that, Katya," Elizabeta said as she took her seat. Natalya sat beside her.

Katya went through the papers that lay in front of her. "I have your new assignments here," she said after a few minutes of silence. "Kiku, you're going to Lublin. There's an undercover mission for you there. Your train leaves in two hours. Vladimir, you're needed in Sofia as soon as possible. You remember Nikolai, yes? He'll brief you when you get there. Tino, you're lucky. You get the next few days off. Alfred, you'll be working with Eduard today testing some new technology. And Elizabeta, you'll be going to Frankfurt this evening. Your contact will meet you there. Take Natalya with you. Oh, and Natalya, you're scheduled at the shooting range for this morning. You may be new here, but you should still learn how to handle a gun sooner rather than later." She looked at Feliks and Toris. "Do you have anything to add?"

Toris shook his head. After a minute, Feliks said, "I can always tutor Natalya at the range, if necessary."

"That could be helpful. According to the sign-up sheet, Alfred will also be there," Katya said, looking up. "Alfred, would you like to teach Natalya a thing or two?"

Alfred shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"Now, if there are no more questions, I believe we can end this meeting." Katya waved her hand and started to write something down. Natalya watched her curiously. She could read to some extent, but she had never learned how to write. It was something that fascinated her.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up.

Elizabeta was standing beside her, a smile on her face. "I'll show you to the shooting range, okay?" she said.

"Um, okay." Natalya stood up, and she and Elizabeta left the conference room and headed for the back of the building. She stayed quiet during the walk, when she happened to notice that Elizabeta had a very slight facial tic. It was infrequent and subtle. Natalya didn't recall seeing it the night before, but there were likely many things she hadn't processed. She didn't say anything about it, deciding it might be rude to ask.

At length they reached the outdoor shooting range. It was essentially a large field with targets set at varying distances. There were signs posted nearby. Natalya assumed that they listed rules and safety precautions.

Elizabeta pointed to a box that sat at the base of one of the signs. "Ear protection is in there," she said. "They basically look like ear muffs. You wear them so you don't blow out your eardrums when you're shooting. Of course, you don't get any sort of protection out in the field. I've pointed this out, but no one seems to like listening to my suggestions. Feliks and Alfred should be out in a minute or so. Remember, we're leaving for Frankfurt tonight. When you're done here, come back to our room and I'll help you pack. Have fun!" With a small wave, she went back inside.

Natalya went over to the box Elizabeta had gestured to and selected a pink ear protector. She wondered how loud guns were. Could they really cause her to blow out her eardrums? This nugget of information was a little scary. She liked her ears. She certainly didn't want to lose her hearing.

"Hey, Natalya!"

She looked up when she heard a voice call her name. Alfred, Feliks, and Tino stepped onto the range. Alfred must have been the one to call her, since he was waving. Natalya lifted a hand in response.

Feliks was the first to approach her. He removed the gun from his side holster and showed it to her. "This is a P-83 Wanad 9x18mm Makarov semi-automatic pistol," he explained. "It has an eight-round box magazine. That means there are eight bullets in each magazine. Pass me one of those ear protectors." When Natalya did as she was told, Feliks continued, "It's very important to hold the gun properly. Make sure it's at arm's length. Aim, look through the sights, and squeeze the trigger." He put on the ear protector, then, making sure Natalya was watching, aimed the gun at one of the targets and fired. He hit the target perfectly.

Natalya was in awe. She was just as shocked when Feliks gave the pistol to her. Without a word, he pointed at the target. Natalya sighed quietly and adjusted her hands on the pistol. Then she bit her lip, took aim, and pulled the trigger.

She completely missed the target. Her hands jerked from the blowback, and she let out a small shriek of surprise.

Feliks shook his head. "Well, your shooting definitely needs some work," he said. He glanced at his watch. "I'm behind on paperwork, so I need to go back inside. I'm sure Alfred or Tino can help you out." Taking his gun back, he went back into the building.

Natalya rubbed her wrists, which were sore from the blowback. She jumped less than a second later when she heard a loud gunshot, and she turned. Tino had just taken a shot with his rifle. He aimed and fired again. Both shots hit the centre of the target.

Alfred noticed Natalya's curiosity and moved closer to her. "He's pretty good, huh?" he said. "I guess that's what happens when you have military training."

"Are you any good?" Natalya asked.

"I'll show you." Alfred's gun was a different make than Feliks'. He took aim and fired. His shot just barely missed the target's centre. Making a face, he shrugged and shook his head. "I'm usually better than that."

Natalya tapped her foot against the ground. Then she said, "You know, I'm curious. Why did you join this...whatever it is you call it?"

"The Agency? That's a long story," Alfred replied. "I don't remember exactly how I found out about it, but I thought it sounded neat. I only completed my training about six months ago. Just so you know, full training takes about a year. Anyway, they said that they wanted an 'international' team, so I guess that's why they let me join. Kiku, too. And now I'm here. There are other teams in other countries, too. Elizabeta has a contact who's part of a team in Germany, and there are ones in Italy, Norway, and Canada as well. I don't know why there are so many."

"Have there been any other people who were part of this team?"

Alfred nodded. "There was an...incident a few months back. I'm not at liberty to talk about it, but Elizabeta was involved. It really messed her up. She tried to kill herself after it was over. In order to get her back to normal, they put her on a bunch of medication."

That might explain her twitching... Natalya took some time to formulate her next question. "Do you like it here?"

"Yeah. I mean, it's not a bad place. As long as you do what they tell you, you won't get into trouble. Hey, you want to practice shooting with my gun?"

"Sure." Taking Alfred's gun, Natalya braced herself and aimed at the target. She took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger.

Once again, she completely missed the target.